


Minus One

by gleefulmusings



Series: Bits and Pieces [5]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 07:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1596773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleefulmusings/pseuds/gleefulmusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kurt takes his final bow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Minus One

"You're leaving," she said softly so as not to awaken the man in the next room, though her gentle tone was charged with accusation.

He hung up the phone in his hand. "I have to," he whispered. "It's not him. It will never be the same."

"It's still him," she insisted, though doubt rang in her words.

He stifled a snort. "It's not and you know it. You can already sense the differences. It might be the same body, though it looks completely different, but it's not the same...personality."

"You don't know that!" she barked, panic beginning to set in. How could he do this to her? How could he leave after all they had shared? How could he leave when everything had just fallen apart? She couldn't put it back together without him!

"Yes, you can," he murmured. "I was a stowaway. No one planned for my presence, including myself, and I believe I've overstayed my welcome."

"That's not true!" she gasped, tears in her eyes as she rushed toward him and folded him into an embrace. He couldn't really believe something so stupid, could he? "You _are_ needed! He needs you. _I_ need you."

He smiled into her neck. "No, you need only each other. I'll just be in the way and we both know it. It was always meant to be the two of you. Don't you know that? Can't you feel it?"

"No," she said, voice cold. "I can't."

He released her and stared into her eyes. "You will," he said, as he pushed her bangs off her forehead before leaning closer and placing a kiss upon it. "If you ever truly need me, I'll be there."

"He loves you."

He shook his head. "He did, but that was then and this is now. That was another him."

"He's still the same!" she protested, more to convince herself than anyone else. She scowled when he shook his head before her face collapsed in grief. "It's better with three."

"Perhaps," he acknowledged, "when it was three of us, but that chain is broken and you will have to rebuild it with him and without me."

"You're a coward," she hissed.

He nodded. "I know."

"I didn't mean it," she whispered, desperately clutching at the lapels of his jacket. "Honestly, I didn't. You're so brave, Kurt, _so_ brave. Far more so than me."

His eyes widened. "I think you forget that I wasn't the one who looked into the heart of the TARDIS and allowed her to look into mine. I didn't defeat the Daleks." He sighed. "No matter what you think, you're so much stronger than me, Rose. This was always meant to be your path, not mine. Maybe I'm not a coward, but I am selfish."

He looked over the shoulder at the door to the bedroom, behind which laid the unconscious Doctor.

"Selfish how?" she demanded.

"I love him and I always will, but that's not _my_ Doctor. My Doctor died, Rose. The man in there is _the_ Doctor, but he's not _my_ Doctor." His eyes bored into hers. "And I need to grieve for my Doctor."

She worried her lip with her teeth and looked away. "He needs us."

"He needs you," Kurt said. "He needs you like we need oxygen, but he doesn't need me, and I wouldn't be of any use to him or you anyway. Not now, and not for a very long time. I can't look at him, Rose, because I'm too angry. I want the nose back, and the ears, and the Northern accent. I want the leather jacket and the scowls and the silences."

She lifted a trembling hand and wiped away tears he hadn't even realized he was shedding.

"He was fantastic, Rose, our Doctor," he whispered, voice ardent with longing, "and that's how I need him to remain in my mind. I need to freeze and hold him there, because it's the only way I'll be able to survive this."

Her eyes closed as her tears spilled over, resting her forehead against his. "This is my fault. If I had just waited, if I had just trusted you..."

"No," he said harshly. "You absolutely did the right thing. I was foolish, leaving you and trying to chase down UNIT. What could they have done? Nothing. They couldn't have piloted the TARDIS even if she had allowed them entry, which I doubt. You believed in him, in the TARDIS, and you saved the universe."

"But at what cost?"

He smiled sadly. "The world needs him, Rose, but it needs you, too. Nothing is coincidence; everything happens for a reason. You were meant to be together."

"And you were meant to be with us!"

"No," he said. "I have my own destiny, Rose, and it's waited long enough."

She gave him a speculative glance. "This has to do with your sisters, doesn't it? You're going home."

He nodded. "It's time, but, like I said, when you need me, I'll be there."

She had no idea how that was possible, but Kurt did have an uncanny knack of being where he was needed, when he was needed. Almost as if by magic. She blinked and shook her head.

He beamed widely. "Tell him I love him, that I always will. Love him for me, Rose."

"First Jack, and now this," she muttered. "I don't know how much more I can take."

"Jack died to save us," he said sharply. "Don't make that out for less than what it is. It was a choice he freely made because, despite what he thought, he was a very good man. Remember him, honor him." He swallowed heavily. "Remember me from time to time, and remember that I loved you all.

"You were just fine before me, before Jack, and you'll be fine again." He nodded. "Give it...time," he added, smiling. "Just remember: he might be the Doctor, but you're _Rose Tyler_." He blinked back tears."We really were fantastic, Rose, weren't we? All of us."

He gently kissed her cheek and exited the kitchen. A moment later, she heard the front door quietly close.

"Let him go, sweetheart," her mother said gently, appearing from behind the corner. "Let him find his peace."

Rose clenched her fists. "We're not in this life for peace!" she spat.

"He's earned his," Jackie said. "You all have. He's only sixteen, sweetheart. He has school and a family and friends."

Rose drew in a sharp breath before drawing up a hand to stifle her sob. "I can't do this without him."

"Well, of course you can!" Jackie huffed. "You're Rose Tyler. Kurt understand what that means, and so does the Doctor. Why don't you?"

"He loved the Doctor so much," Rose said.

"Almost as much as you," Jackie said, "but you also love the idea, sweetheart. You not only love the Doctor, but you love what he is, what he represents. Kurt loved the man, the face, even those ridiculous ears. He's so young, Rose, even younger than you, and he's doing what he needs in order to function."

"He's smarter than me, Mum," Rose insisted. "Wiser."

"Oh, now that's not true, darling," Jackie said. "Despite your age, your innocence, you're incredibly wise. Kurt is smart, yes; a genius even. He's very much like the Doctor that way, minus the insanity, and he was smart enough to know that his time with you is over. He understood the Doctor would need you to see him through this, to keep on saving the universe. Kurt would have been in the way, holding you back, looking for the man you both lost in the eyes of the man the Doctor's become. He knew that wouldn't be fair to either of you, so he did the noble thing, the compassionate thing, and removed himself from the picture."

"You sound as if you're glad he's gone," said a bitter Rose.

"Not at all," Jackie replied. "I love that boy and you know it. His presence was the only reason I didn't fight harder to keep you here with me. In some ways, he's older than all of us, but, in others, he's still very much a child. I trusted him to look after you, even though he's younger and less experienced, but, like a child, he loves without restraint, and he loved the Doctor with everything inside of him. The Doctor might be lying in the next room, but he's not the same man. Kurt recognized that, and you will have to as well."

Rose was silent for a very long moment. "Do you really think I can do this?" she finally asked.

"Of course you can," Jackie said simply. "I don't want you to. I want you here with me, safe, but, yes, you can do it. Kurt certainly believed so and the Doctor does as well. If they have that much faith in you, why don't you have faith in yourself?"

She eyed her mother. "You're not usually so...generous...about the Doctor."

Jackie shrugged. "Yeah, well, I learned a while ago that you're going to do what you want, regardless of what I think. You're like your own person that way. And you know what? That's okay; it really is. You're a clever girl, Rose. You're smart, but you also have common sense. That's a rare combination. You're kind, but you're not a doormat. I trust you to make the right decisions for yourself."

Rose didn't know when her mother had reached that conclusion and she wasn't about to fight her on it. She just hoped she could live up to it.

She returned to her old bedroom to check on the Doctor. She absently noticed the leather jacket was gone and knew Kurt had taken it with him. She didn't like it, but she understood.

She didn't like many things, but she understood them. She got the feeling that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

It wasn't until after the Sontarans had been defeated, until after the Doctor had regenerated his hand, until his mania had somewhat subsided, that he realized something was missing.

He looked around blankly, so confused, still trying to master this body and its processes - blasted new teeth! - terrified Rose would leave him, mourning Jack more than he thought possible, and that's when it hit him.

And then he realized he was an utter idiot, a complete dolt. He could all but the hear the screaming recriminations of his previous incarnation who was still a part of him, who still loved Rose and Jack and...

"Rose, where's Kurt?"


End file.
